Sephora is cracking down on customers abusing its return policy — here's how you can avoid getting banned

A representative for Sephora confirmed to INSIDER that the company monitors customer returns that are made without proof of purchase.

Excessive unverified returns can lead to the company limiting that customer's future returns.

The representative told INSIDER that Sephora only monitors returns that require a photo ID.

Buying makeup is always a bit of a risk. That concealer can look like a perfect match under the store's fluorescent lighting, but look totally different once it's out in the real world. Fortunately, Sephora has a fairly generous return policy, but people are discovering that it has its limits.

The same Sephora customer wrote that the e-mail included a warning from the company: "Please be advised that if we see your current return behavior continue, we may decline any future return with or without a receipt at any Sephora location, including purchases made on Sephora.com or Sephora inside JCPenney."

A representative for Sephora has confirmed to INSIDER that the company monitors customer returns that are made without a receipt or other proof of purchase in an effort to stop people from abusing its fairly relaxed return policy.

"We make every effort to accommodate returns, but a small fraction of customers take advantage of our policy, in many cases returning more than twice as much merchandise as they purchase," a representative for Sephora said in a statement provided to INSIDER. "When we identify excessive return patterns, we notify those customers that we may limit future returns or exchanges if no proof of purchase is provided."

Sephora also confirmed to INSIDER that the company uses a program called The Retail Equation to keep track of returns, but only ones that require additional verification.

The company's current retail policy allows for a full refund if products are returned with a receipt or other proof of purchase within 60 days, though it does clearly state that returns without proof of purchase will require a form of ID that will be stored in a third party database:

"Returns without a receipt or that cannot otherwise be verified, will require a valid government issued photo ID that will be swiped, scanned or manually recorded at the time of the return. Information from your ID will be retained in a third party database of customer return activity that Sephora uses to authorize returns and prevent fraud. Information in this database will not be used for marketing purposes."

So don't let the policy dissuade you from making legitimate returns, just as long as you keep that receipt.

You can read Sephora's full statement provided to INSIDER below:

"Sephora is dedicated to providing all of our customers with an excellent shopping experience. We make every effort to accommodate returns, but a small fraction of customers take advantage of our policy, in many cases returning more than twice as much merchandise as they purchase. This limits product selection and unfairly impacts other clients. When we identify excessive return patterns, we notify those customers that we may limit future returns or exchanges if no proof of purchase is provided."

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